Labour has been accused of lobbying the Equality and Human Rights Commission to force through an “unworkable” Islamophobia definition, despite the body opposing it.
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the EHRC will not adopt the new definition of Islamophobia introduced earlier this year.
The aim of the new definition is to reduce Islamophobia, but it has faced backlash over concerns it could contradict free speech.
Following an FOI request from The Times, the EHRC said that during an “informal discussion with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the question of whether the Commission would consider adopting the definition was raised.”
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Baroness Falkner of Margravine, who headed the watchdog from 2020 until November of last year, has accused Labour of pursuing the definition to win over the Muslim vote.
Baroness Falkner told The Times: “The reports that the government has secretly tried to get the EHRC -– the regulator for freedom of expression — to sign up to its entirely unworkable ‘definition’ shows how ideological they are. They have been warned again and again that this definition will restrict speech and legitimate criticism of a religion or culture.
“They didn’t consult EHRC, which has responsibility for protecting our hard won freedoms and which repeatedly warned them of the implications of this definition.
“If they really want to restrict our freedom of expression, they should come up with a proper legal definition and see if they can get that through parliament, instead of adopting underhand tactics, presumably in pursuit of a Muslim vote which they have, for far too long, taken for granted.”
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